


Seattle: Become Human

by fabulousfairytales



Series: schmico AU ville [17]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Androids, M/M, Pacifist Route (Detroit: Become Human), detroit: become human au, the au nobody asked for but now it is here LOL
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28299063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabulousfairytales/pseuds/fabulousfairytales
Summary: “My name is Nico. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife.”Nico was and android. He was given tasks that he had to accomplish. He surely wouldn’t get side-tracked by an eager resident who was fascinated by androids, right? And he surely wouldn’t start questioning his entire existence, because said resident was guiding him to tear down his own firewalls.
Relationships: Jackson Avery/April Kepner, Nico Kim/Levi Schmitt
Series: schmico AU ville [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1196467
Comments: 30
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Oh my!! It's been a while. How are y'all doing? I hope you're ready for this funky fresh AU. I fell down the Detroit: Become Human rabbit hole. I'm absolutely obsessed with the game (and mainly, Connor). So why not write a Schmico AU about it? Especially since ppl keep dunking on Nico for not being capable of processing emotions LOL. Anyways, here we are. Now, enjoy!!
> 
> (also thank u so so much [orthoglasses](http://glassesandkim.tumblr.com/) for betaing aaa ur an angel)

Nov, 5th 2038, 7:58 am 

Nico stood alone in the elevator. His optical units directed towards the elevator doors. He was fumbling with a dark green pen, spinning it in between his pointer and middle finger of his right hand. 

Humans might see it as a nervous habit, but for Nico it was just a background process to run while being in idle mode. Nothing more than that. 

He put the pen back into the pocket of his navy-blue scrubs, that he was asked to wear instead of his standard white uniform, when his left audio unit registered the ‘ping’ of the elevator. 

He had reached the third floor and was now on his way to the chief’s office to introduce himself. 

After a twenty-six second long walk, Nico had arrived at his destination and knocked on the door. 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 8:00 am 

“Doctor Bailey? My name is Nico. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife.” 

“That I ordered my ass,” Bailey muttered. As if she would order an android. 

“I was programmed to assist you in surgery whenever you or another doctor may need my assistance. My accuracy is at 99.99 percent. 0.01 percent for circumstances of environmental influences similar to earthquakes, windstorms or the collapse of a nearby building. How may I help you?” 

Of course she hadn’t ordered this plastic man. 

Don’t get her wrong, she didn’t hate androids like some people did. They were helpful. Especially in taking care of patients or even the elderly who don’t have anybody to take care of them. 

But she didn’t need a fancy robot to do what she and the doctors working under her already did. 

No, this was Catherine Fox’ idea. To ‘go with the times’. It’s true, Nico was their first surgical android. Countless other hospitals have been using them for years now. Bailey had fought tooth and nail to avoid having to deal with a plastic man like him. 

In the end, Dr. Lincoln and Dr. Shepherd’s parental leaves caused the hospital to be short staffed, especially on the orthopedic side. And since they would return eventually, the executive board (read: Catherine Fox) decided to just rent an android or that time being. 

Something about lower costs and little to none training period about the ins and outs of the Grey Sloan Memorial. 

Miranda sighed before she got up from her chair and took a few steps to be able to inspect the android closer. 

She was still astonished by how real these things looked. From the perfectly styled hair, to the movements of breathing. Miranda wanted to touch its skin to see if it was warm or not. 

If it wasn’t for that LED, she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Well, at least from the looks of it. 

“Doctor Webber will be observing you operate on a 27-year-old man’s crushed right fibula. You can find him and Dr. Schmitt in OR 2.” 

The android nodded. “Of course.” It turned around and left the chief’s office. 

Miranda shook her head as she looked out of the window to watch the android walk down the hallway. As much as she disliked having an android doing her and her colleagues’ jobs, she knew that they needed it. There weren’t many who could substitute an Atticus Lincoln or an Amelia Shepherd. Luckily, Tom Koracick was still there to take over Dr. Shepherd’s cases, but for Doctor Lincoln, the search had been... difficult. 

Just like Doctor Shepherd, he was an expert in his field and it was hard to find a temporary replacement for him. And the hospital didn’t want to settle for anyone less than Doctor Lincoln. In an attempt to prevent the unpreventable, Bailey had even asked Dr. Torres to come back to their hospital for one year. 

But of course, she rejected the offer which, by the way, was very generous in Bailey’s opinion as she already had a life built in New York. Of course, she wouldn’t give that up. She had a daughter and a wife. She was happy. Why would she come back? 

So there was no other option left for her than to just accept her fate and deal with that android roaming the hall of her hospital. 

Who knows, maybe it will all go down just fine. 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 7:00 am 

Levi liked going to work. He liked getting up in the morning, slowly making his way to the kitchen to get to the liquor of his life that would get some of his bodily functions going. He liked taking too much time studying the same mug he used every single until he ran out of time and would have to chug all his coffee down in one gulp. Then rush back to his bedroom to pick out some clothes that he’ll eventually have to change out of in thirty minutes and into light blue scrubs anyway. 

He liked having a reason to get up in the morning. A purpose. 

He also liked going to work and seeing his friends. His friends, who were not all human. Most of the hospital staff didn’t mind the maintenance androids. They were civil with them, but nobody was actively nice to them. Nobody except Levi. 

There was Delilah and Timothy, the janitors who always had fun facts about sea animals and knock-knock jokes ready for him. Jeff and Cranston, the cafeteria androids who would usually be kind of cranky to everyone, but would often sneak Levi a little extra snack. 

Sometimes Levi wondered if they were deviants since androids were supposed to be nice and helpful to everyone no matter what. Ever since Levi had heard about the deviant android in Detroit that had held that little girl hostage, he wondered about the possibility of them being deviant like him. Just less taking-hostage-y. 

But if they were, why would they stay? Why wouldn’t they run away like the androids in the news? 

Maybe it’s because they were afraid. After all they were androids. There was nowhere to go for them really, especially now. 

People have always been nasty to androids. Treating them like they were just machines. Well, technically, they were. But how can you still treat them like machines when they looked and behaved so human? If it weren’t for the LED or the uniforms, nobody would even know if they were talking to an android or a human. 

Now, with the cases of deviant androids on the rise, people were even more suspicious of them. 

Levi would never even think about reporting them. Why would he? They didn’t hurt anybody, unless they feared for their existence. If anything, wasn’t deviancy just even more of a sign that they were indeed alive? Isn’t the fact that they are able to break out of their programming, because humanity’s abuse had been enough for them to want a better existence, enough proof? 

And it’s not like deviants just went out on a murder spree for the hell of it. 

“Are you done with your inner monologue, or do you need another minute?” Taryn asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. Levi’s head snapped up and he turned around as he closed his locker. 

He wasn’t done yet. But he knew there wasn’t any time left for him to just keep thinking about androids. So he just said, “I’m ready. We can go.” 

He had been thinking about androids and whether or not they had a conscience since the news about the hospital getting a surgical android was announced. And today he would be in the OR with them. The first surgical android for the hospital and Levi was going to be alongside them in surgery. 

And unlike his coworkers, he was excited for that. He went along well with androids. And he was curious to see what this new one was capable of doing. Obviously, he was a surgeon, but was he only specialized in orthopedics or was he capable of doing everything? Even if it was _only_ orthopedics, Levi would be impressed nonetheless. The possibility alone that an android was able to operate on a patient was blowing his mind. He couldn’t wait to scrub in and to observe the wonders of technology up close. 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 8:12 am 

Nico had arrived at the OR in exactly 2 minutes and 45 seconds. He got a little distracted by the TVs he passed, showing pictures of Detroit and talking about how an android had viciously attacked its owner’s son. 

The picture they flashed of the android had Nico’s LED blinking rapidly. 

He recognized this face. Or at least a remarkably similar one that was saved into his database of surgeons of the hospital. He would have to question that person later. 

For now, he had a task to accomplish. 

There are already two other people when he entered the scrub room of OR 2. 

Nico quickly scanned the room and identified the two as Dr. Richard Webber, the attending surgeon and Dr. Levi Schmitt, a resident assisting and learning from his teacher. 

The two of them were turning round when Nico had entered, soapy water dripping to the floor, increasing the risk of slipping and falling by 9.78 percent. 

“Doctor Webber, Doctor Schmitt.” He gave them a nod as it is customary for humans to make them feel more at ease with his presence. Humans were wary of machines like him. “My name is Nico. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife. I am here to operate on Trey Lodan under your supervision.” 

“She really got us an android, huh?” Webber muttered with a frown. 

Nico could detect the attending’s attempt of trying to his distaste for his presence. Webber stepped away from the sink to dry his hands. 

Although unnecessary, Nico stepped to the sink to wash his hands now. Unnecessary, because his skin was modified to be self-disinfectant, but he figured that emulating human rituals would help him get along with them much more easily. 

“Well, I think it’s cool that you are here, Nico,” Dr. Schmitt said. 

Nico looked over and sent him a shy smile.

“Thank you, Dr. Schmitt.” 

He was the first person that day to be nice to him. 

His LED was happily blinking in a bright blue. 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▲_

\-------- 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 8:09 am 

Levi was excited to meet that android. Until now, every single android he had met had been nice to him. And why wouldn’t they be? He always tried his best to be nice to them. And unlike humans, they didn’t immediately judge him solely based on his looks. 

Or maybe they did and Levi never noticed it because they were just programmed to be nice? 

Well, who knows? And as of now, Levi didn’t care. Right now, he was waiting to meet this new android. He had never been in an OR with one, but he knew several other hospitals all over the country already had them in use. 

They weren’t allowed to operate on their own, so at least one attending had to be present to oversee them.

Levi had just started washing his hands when the doors opened and a hot stranger he’s never seen before entered the washing room. He was about to ask that person’s name when he noticed the blue LED at his temple. So _this_ was their new android? 

Oh boy, he already knew he was going to get into trouble looking at this perfectly sculpted android during surgery. Maybe he should just not look at him at all during surgery. 

But then again, he always made sure to treat androids just like how he treated humans. He didn’t want to make... what’s his name? 

“My name is Nico. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife. I am here to operate on Trey Lodan under your supervision.” 

Nico, huh? Well, he didn’t want to hurt Nico’s feelings by not treating him like he would with his colleagues. And yes, he knew that technically androids didn’t have feelings, but well, he already did suspect that this hospital was full of deviants, so why not treat him like a person? Who knows, maybe Nico will become one too. 

His train of thought was interrupted with Nico standing next to him, disinfecting his hands. He wondered why Cyberlife had made him so damn attractive. He had never seen a hospital android with so much bicep. Why was this happening? Who was testing him right now? 

“Well, I think it’s cool that you are here, Nico,” Levi finally said, very proud that his voice didn’t break as he was still a little overwhelmed by all... that. 

“Thank you, Dr. Schmitt,” Nico replied. 

Levi smiled and watched Nico thoroughly scrub his hands. 

“Oh, you’re not wearing your mask yet. You’ll have to get sterile again after putting on your mask,” he explained. He watched Nico dry his hands with a few paper towels and put on his surgical mask. 

“You know,” Nico started washing his hands again, “I don’t really need to do this. My hands were made to be sterile at all times.” 

Levi stared at him in awe. 

“Wow. That’s so cool,” he whispered as they entered the OR. 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 10:27 am 

Watching Nico do the surgery was fascinating. Every move, every cut was precise and flawless. If he wasn’t so fascinated by it, he could’ve easily curled up on the floor for a nap, because Nico had absolutely got this. 

Instead, Doctor Webber had made himself comfortable on a chair, occasionally looking up from his magazine. He had told Levi to make sure that _this thing does its work_ and to get him if they needed his help. 

Levi was more than happy to assist Nico. Although he didn’t speak unless spoken to first, Nico could actually hold up a conversation that didn’t just consist of fun facts about sea animals. Don’t get him wrong, those daily facts delivered to him by Delilah and Timothy were interesting, but you can’t stuff hours with facts when you still had a job to do where you need to concentrate. 

With Nico, his liking of plants seemed real. The way he spoke about how to take care of an oxalis triangularis or an anthurium really made it seem like he was fascinated by them. Levi wondered if it was because of the fact that plants are considered alive although they can’t speak or feel emotions while he is communicating with him. 

Whether the fascination was real or not, Levi was now set on taking Nico to the nearby park when they had the time. He would love it there. 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 12:34 pm 

Exhaustion wasn’t in Nico’s program. But running hot was. He should’ve run the update this morning before being sent to the hospital but someone at Cyberlife had overslept and sent him on his way just in time to arrive at the facility for his appointment with the chief. 

The self-diagnosis he ran as he was taking off his mask and gloves showed that the pace of his breathing simulation was too low, causing his biocomponents to not be ventilated enough and therefore slightly elevating his core temperature. 

It wasn’t an urgent problem, he could go on for a while like that, but he could see occasional specs of yellow in his LED in the reflection of the scrub room window, so he made a note to update his program as soon as he’d be put into stasis. Or as the humans would refer to as his version of going to sleep. 

He was about to leave the room when the resident, Dr. Schmitt, entered the washing room. 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 12:36 pm 

“Nico! You’re still here!” Levi exclaimed, revealing the big smile that was hiding under his mask. He had made it his mission to befriend the android. 

Levi used to have a hard time making friends. After high school and college, he thought that maybe it would be easier in med school since they were all there for the same reason. But no. It took him years and starting his internship at Grey Sloan Memorial until he finally met his tribe. 

Taryn, Dahlia and Casey were three of his closest friends now. Teenage-Levi would’ve never been able to imagine having friends like them. Friends that would always be there for him when he needed someone to talk to. Friends that would immediately suggest to look for a house to share together when he wanted to move out of his mom’s because she was trying to hide his gayness from their family. Friends that would assure him that everything would turn out okay eventually and while it wasn't yet, they would stick together to make the dark times feel brighter. 

And it worked. Whenever they hung out together, the dark clouds would leave his mind, at least for a while. 

“Yes, I am,” Nico replied quietly. He sounded tired. Do androids get tired? Should he get him some coffee? No, what was he thinking? Androids didn’t need to eat or drink like humans did. Caffeine didn’t have an effect on them. What he could offer instead would be some Thirium, also called blue blood. It’s the fluid that circulated through an android’s body, supplying energy and electrical information to their biocomponents. 

Levi threw his gloves and mask into the trash. He took off his light blue scrub cap and stuffed it into the left pocket of his pants. 

“Don’t you wanna take off your scrub cap too? I always sweat so much when walking around in that thing outside an OR.” Levi suggested. 

“I don’t sweat,” Nico simply stated and was about to head out the door, but Levi stopped him, grabbing his wrist. 

“Maybe you don’t,” he went on his tip toes and reached to the back of the android’s neck to untie his scrub cap, “But this way you’ll be able to blend in a little bit better.” 

“Oh.” 

Levi handed him his cap and smiled. “This is a nice cap.” 

He liked the pattern. It was brown with white and light green squiggly flowers on it. It fit his dark brown eyes. They were very pretty, Levi thought. 

“It was part of the package. Cyberlife gave it to me,” Nico said, matter-of-factly. 

“Ah. Well, it looks good on you.” 

“Oh?” Nico looked confused. His LED was blinking bright blue with an occasional spec of yellow in it. 

“Are you okay?” Levi asked slightly concerned. He caught the short change of color and knew that an android’s LED blinking yellow could be a sign of stress. 

Nico just stared blankly at him for a few seconds until he spoke up again. 

“I - yes, I am fine. I am just missing an update that I need to implement as soon as I go into stasis,” Nico explained. 

“An update? That’s cool. Sometimes I wish somebody could update me to be less of a mess,” Levi half-joked. He really did wish for an option like that. 

“Cognitive behavioral therapy is the most common way to treat anxiety. If my information is still up to date, there should be a therapist available in this hospital in the -” Nico stopped talking when Levi started laughing softy, placing his hand onto Nico’s shoulder and squeezing it gently. 

“I was just joking. I don’t need therapy.” Or maybe he did. But that was a thought for another day. 

“Oh.” 

“But thanks for the concern.” 

Nico nodded. 

Levi didn’t want them to part ways just yet. He was hungry anyways, so maybe he could take Nico to his hideout spot where they could talk some more. He doubted that the chief would already give Nico too many tasks. He knew that Dr. Bailey wasn’t trusting them that much yet. 

“Hey, are you free right now?” Levi asked. 

“I do not have another surgery scheduled today. But I should return to chief Bailey’s office.” 

“Did she say you have to return immediately after the surgery?” 

“No.” 

“Did she say you should return at all after the surgery?” 

“No.” 

“Then we got some time. Come on, I’ll show you my favorite hideout spot.” 

Nico took a moment to evaluate Levi’s suggestion, his LED blinking rapidly, then nodded. 

“I would be delighted.” 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 12:39 pm 

Technically he wasn’t disobeying any orders. 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▲_

\-------- 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 12:40 pm 

As Nico followed Levi, the resident could feel the looks on them. Of course, people would watch Nico’s every move as almost nobody was comfortable with the thought of having an android do surgery on humans. 

It’s not like he would go nuts and stab someone twenty-eight times with a scalpel. He was helping a young man to walk again. 

Levi had found out about the tunnels from Meredith Grey. Not like she told him about it, but he had heard her talk about it once with Alex Karev as they reminisced about old times on his wedding day. Levi definitely did not eavesdrop on purpose, but when they started talking about their favorite hideout place from when they were residents, it piqued his interest. 

He had spent days trying to find these mysterious tunnels. The busy, jammed packed days didn’t help or the fact that the head of peds had suddenly left to get back with her wife and daughter _and_ with Alex and Jo Karev on their honeymoon. Maybe if Bailey had hired an android back then, all of them would’ve been less stressed by now. 

Eventually he stumbled upon the tunnels, which was basically just a hallway with beds and a snack machined, after being in the OR for 7 hours. 

He had crashed onto one of the empty beds in exhaustion and almost immediately fell asleep until the pesky noise of his beeper woke him up again. 

When Nico and Levi arrived, the resident threw himself onto his favorite bed. He landed face-first into a pillow and didn’t move an inch. Or at least that was his plan if Nico had sat down onto one of the beds next to him. He turned his head and looked at new surgeon. Oops. He thought Nico would just sit down on his own, but instead, he was still standing at the spot he was a minute ago, eyes on Levi. He quickly looked away when Levi noticed him. The resident let out a soft chuckle and sat back up. 

“Make yourself comfortable,” he said and patted the space next to him. 

Nico studied his face carefully and sat down stiffly next to Levi. 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 5:34 pm 

The part that Bailey liked least about being the chief was the paperwork. Sure, she got used to it over time because she was a rock star, but it was still her least favorite thing to do. 

Sometimes she missed the days where she stood in an OR for sixteen hours, eventually not feeling her body anymore. Her legs seemingly not being attached to the rest of her, because they would surely hurt after such a long time and yet they didn’t. Or how her mind would be so immersed into the procedure that even hours after the surgery had already ended, she would find herself thinking of the steps necessary to ensure a positive outcome. 

But then, after she had showered, after she had changed into her pajamas, slipped into bed and looked over to the other side of the bed where she would often find her husband, the exhaustion caught up on her. 

And together they passed out into a deep and uninterrupted slumber, their bodies getting themselves exactly what they needed after eventful days like those. 

Today was not one of those sixteen hour surgery days. Miranda was glad about that because tonight, Tuck was playing the French horn in his school’s orchestra performance. She and Ben were so proud of him and she couldn’t wait to get home to get changed and to see Tuck in his adorable band uniform. She was also excited to see Joey in his new suit that he and Ben went to get a few days ago. 

Joey was still adjusting to life with them. He would still often wake up at night, panicked and confused, wondering where his siblings were. 

When Miranda and Ben offered him to turn the guest room into his, he’d been nervous about saying yes. He wasn’t used to having his own room. He had previously shared his room with Ernie and back then, when they were living on the street, there was no room for him. Just whatever safe place they could find for the night. 

Luckily though, Tuck suggested that they could just share his room until Joey got somewhat used to living in this house. 

In that moment, Miranda had been so proud of her boy. It was moments like these when she knew that she and Ben did an amazing job at raising their boy. 

As she marveled at the tenacity of her family, she heard a knock at her office’s door. 

“Come in,” she yelled and a few seconds later, the door opened. 

Oh, it was the android. She had almost forgotten about him. 

“Chief,” it greeted her. Man, it was kind of spooky how real these things looked. 

“Nico. You’re back. How did the surgery go?” she asked. 

“I have submitted my report the minute the surgery finished.” 

“I didn’t ask about the report. I asked how did the surgery go?” 

The android frowned. Miranda chuckled. She had never seen a confused android. 

“I... The surgery went well?” Nico answered carefully. 

Miranda could see that he -- _it --_ wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to hear from it. 

“How did you get along with the team?” Bailey asked. 

“The surgery ended around 1 pm. Why are you here only just now?” It was just a question. She was curious. She didn’t expect his LED to blink yellow with specs of red in it. 

“I - I was just... Dr. Schmitt wanted to show me the hospital. And then I –” 

“Don’t worry your little Thirium filled head about it, Nico. I was just curious, that’s all.” 

“I am sorry that I did not return to immediately upon completing my ask. I will do so next time.” 

“Nico.” 

“Yes, chief?” 

“It’s alright. You don’t need permission from me for every single little thing. As long as you do your work, we are fine. Alright?” 

“Yes, chief.” 

“Good. And now... uhm...” Do androids have a home to go to? She never really thought about it since the maintenance androids are not being handled by her. 

“I shall put myself into stasis and update.” 

Oh. 

“Okay, but don’t do it in here.” 

“Do you have an assigned space for androids to put themselves into stasis?” Nico asked. Miranda frowned. She never even thought about that since the maintenance androids were sent by a company that handled all that jazz. Now she felt a little bit guilty that she didn’t think about that. She had no idea where to put him 

_Where to put him._ As if he was some sort of vacuum. Well, he -- no, _it --_ _was_ a machine after all. But to Bailey it felt weird. She didn’t want to just stuff him -- _it --_ into a supply closet. And she also didn’t just want him to wait for her in her office. 

_It._

She has been around Schmitt too much. That kid could befriend every single android he met and spend an entire surgery telling her about them. 

Despite what people might think, Miranda liked working with the kid. And oh, Helm, of course. Of course, she would never admit that. The chief didn’t have favorites. Of course not. But she did see the potential in that little group that surrounded the two. 

“You can… go to one of the on-call rooms for now if that’s okay with you?” 

Finding a sleeping android was probably less terrifying in an on-call room than a supply closet. 

“Alright, chief. Have a nice evening.” 

“Y-yes. You too.” 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 6:03 pm 

Nico entered the nearest empty on-call room and scanned it in order to find the most optimal space for him to put himself. He decided to stand in the corner behind the door as he would save the most space doing so. His goal was to not be in the way of the doctors that he served. 

Closing his eyes, he put himself into stasis, initializing the download for his update. 

A few minutes later, he is woken up by the door swinging open and lightly hitting his head. His download stopped abruptly and Nico opened his eyes to identify who had just entered the room and to look for a more optimal place for himself. 

“Oh my God, Nico! Are you okay?” His database immediately recognized the voice as Levi’s. The resident closed the door and touched Nico’s cheek as he tried to check for damage. 

“Dr. Schmitt. No need to worry about me. I am built to be very robust,” Nico replied. Levi frowned as he let go. 

“You can call me Levi when it’s just us,” he said. 

Nico nodded and updated how to address Dr. Schmitt in his private settings. 

“What are you doing in here anyways? Behind the door?” It was only now that Nico looked down at Levi. He noticed that he wasn’t wearing his scrubs anymore. Instead, he was in jeans and a grey-blue checkered shirt with a tan jacket over it. 

“Chief Bailey told me that I can put myself in stasis in one of the on-call rooms so I chose this one as it was empty and the closest to the chief’s office.” 

“And why behind the door?” 

“To not take up too much space.” 

Nico registered something in Levi’s eyes that he couldn’t quite identify. Did his social relations program need an update too? 

“I’m pretty sure you’re allowed to lie down, Nico.” 

“But I do not require that.” 

“Yeah, but if you laid down instead of just standing here, it would be way less creepy.” 

Nico stored this new information. “Oh.” 

The android nodded and climbed into one of the beds, folding his hands and closed his eyes as he downloaded the ventilation update. He stopped the process 5 seconds in, however, when he did not register Levi leaving the room yet. Instead, the resident chuckled quietly. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Nico asked. Asking questions was not what he was supposed to do. 

“Sure.” Levi sat down onto the bed next to Nico. The android sat back up and searched Levi’s eyes. 

“Why did you come in here? You already have changed your attire.” He touched Levi’s jacket for emphasis. It was soft. 98% cotton and 2% elastane. It would hold him warm enough during the current temperatures. Hopefully he would change to a warmer one when it became colder. Nico made a note to remind Levi of it if he sees him in this jacket in the snow. 

“I just wanted to check up on you before going home.” 

Huh? 

“You did not have to do that.” 

“I know. But I wanted to.” He wanted to. Noted. 

“Oh.” 

Silence. Nico knew he should just lie back down and update, but Levi was still looking at him like he wanted to say something else. And it would be rude to just go into stasis on him like that. And Nico wasn’t programmed to be rude. 

“Hey, do you wanna go to Joe’s with me?” Joe’s. A bar near the hospital. One of the few bars in town that allowed androids. They also served Thirium. It would probably be a good chance to replenish it. But leaving the hospital was not part of chief Bailey’s instructions. 

“I don’t think I should –” 

Levi interrupted him. “Do you have any other tasks to accomplish today?” 

Nico checked his schedule. There was nothing. Nothing besides the update. “No. But I need to update myself.” 

“Do you need all night for that?” 

“No. Calculated time for this update is 38 minutes and 28 seconds.” 

“Then what’s stopping you?” 

“I – “ 

Levi looked expectantly at him. Maybe it would not be such a bad idea. Since the bar was near the hospital, this would be a good way to introduce himself to some of the staff if they were to be present there. Spending time with people outside work could establish friendly relationships, making it easier for them to accept his presence and therefore making it easier for Nico to do his work where he will have to assist them. So with that reasoning, maybe going to the bar was not a complete deterioration from his assignment. 

“Alright. If you put it that way, I can come with you.” 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▲_

\-------- 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 6:28 pm 

Joe’s was filled to the brim with people. With every step he took, Levi could hear different snippets of different conversations. Today must be a busy day, when even the bar stools were all occupied. Of course it was, it was Saturday. At this point, Levi didn’t really know what day of the week it was anymore. He checked the date on his phone when filling out a form and asked somebody else when he was checking his shift plan. 

Maybe that wasn’t too optimal, but honestly, Levi was too busy still moving his stuff into the house he shared with his friends. They had only signed the lease for the house three months ago and moved in a month after that. The house looked chaotic. Which was fine for Levi as of now. He was banking on his upcoming time off to be able to finally sort through his stuff and maybe help his friends with the living room. Since they knew that they would still need some time to organize everything, they had just left the boxes with Christmas decorations near one of the walls so they could start hanging up those as soon as they had organized the general mess. 

Taryn had already finished packing her stuff away, but to be fair she already had taken a few vacation days. Now she was focused on keeping the basement organized as the rest of them had just randomly put their boxes there, expecting to remember whose box was whose. 

It was surprising that Taryn was the one who made sure they didn’t just burst out into chaos and not Casey. 

Levi was brought back into reality when he felt a soft tug on his jacket. He turned to the side it came from and saw Nico pointing at the empty booth in the back corner. Levi nodded quickly and signaled him to sit down while he went to get their drinks. 

As Nico walked over to the booth, Levi leaned against the bar, waiting for Joe to notice him and take his order. It didn’t take too long until the owner of the bar made his way over to the resident, a big smile on his face upon seeing him. 

“Levi! Where have you been? It’s been a while!” Levi returned the smile and gave him one of his special awkward waves that only Joe laughed at. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know I'm sorry. I missed you too. Taryn, Casey, Dahlia and I finally moved into the house and things have been busy. How’s Walter doing? How are the girls?” 

Joe held up one finger to wait a second as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. He tapped the display a few times and then turned around it around to show Levi a family picture from what seemed like a birthday party. The thirteen-year-old girlshad yellow party hats on and were grimacing towards the camera. Joe and Walter stood tall on either side of them, laughing hard. Walter’s hair was still as magical and flowy as it had been when Levi saw him last at the bar, a few more grey streaks in it, but so did Joe’s. 

Seeing their family, made Levi long for that. He couldn’t remember the last time he was able to hold up a relationship. It’s been quite a while if he was being honest. He wanted to one day have the same that Joe had with Walter. A family with kids, with birthdays and holidays and vacations and day trips. 

That was not to say that he didn’t appreciate the family he had right now. He loved his friends. He loved them dearly and he knew that they loved him too. That they would be there and stand up for each other. Accepted him for who he was and not the version that they had hoped him to be. 

“So what’s it gonna be for you today? The usual?” The usual for Levi was just whatever Joe would hand him. He had no real preference on beers, so he let Joe pick the drink of the day for him. 

“Yes, that. And one glass of the _blue juice_.” It’s what Joe called Thirium 310. 

That order got Levi a raised eyebrow. “You want... blue blood?” He repeated the order. 

“Uhh.” Levi turned around to take a look at Nico who was sat in the booth, doing tricks with a pen, sending it spinning over his fingers and hand. It was quite impressive. 

“He’s the substitute for Dr. Lincoln while he’s on parental leave. He’s really good.” 

“You brought an android from work?” Joe chuckled. 

“I – “ Levi didn’t know what else to say to that. 

“Alright kid. I’ll get you your _blue_ _juice._ “ For some reason Levi had never minded him calling him kid. Maybe it’s the warmth he exudes when he talked. Levi wasn’t quite sure. He was glad though that Joe was so nice to everyone. Even androids. 

A minute or two later, Joe handed him a bottle of beer and glass of _blue juice_. Carefully, he walked over to the booth where Nico was still engulfed into his pen-spinning business. 

_Was that an anxiety thing? Can androids have anxiety?_

He set down beer and Thirium and slid the glass in front of Nico, prompting him to look up and lose control of the pen, sending it flying all over the table and landing on the ground. Levi chuckled and picked it up, handing it Nico before he sat down on the other side of the booth. 

The android looked at the glass in front of him and raised an eyebrow when he figured out what the liquid in the glass was. 

“You did not have to do that. Cyberlife will automatically send out a portion of Thirium 310 when my numbers have dropped to a certain, still safe, percentage.” 

“But I wanted to get you something,” Levi just said, putting the glass in front of him. 

Nico shook his head. “It’s a waste of your money.” He started fumbling with his pen. No fancy tricks this time. Just nervous wiggling. 

“It’s not. I wanted to drink something with you and now we are drinking something together.” 

“But –” 

Levi put his hand over Nico’s, thus stopping him from possibly breaking said pen. “No buts. I wanted to do this, okay? No need to feel bad about it.” 

“I don’t feel anything,” Nico said. Nobody in the bar was convinced, mostly because his LED was blinking rapidly. 

“Well, then there’s no problem, right? Now show me how you do that thing with the pen. What I try only gets me dangerously close to breaking one of my fingers.” 

Nico’s LED slowed down as he put his focus on the pen and on Levi. 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 7:57 pm 

When the bar died down a bit, Joe walked over to Levi’s and his company’s booth. He just had to check out this Thirium-drinking guy that one of his favorite customer had brought along. 

“Hey there, I’m Joe.” 

“Oh, you must be the owner of this establishment. Levi told me about you. You have created a very pleasant place to relax.” 

“Well thank you," he hesitated as he didn’t know the android’s name yet. 

“Nico. My name is Nico. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife.” Joe nodded and tried hard to stifle his chuckle. Of course, Levi likes this dork. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Nico. I’ll have to get back now, but you two enjoy the rest of your evening.” 

“Thank you very much. It was very pleasant to meet you too.” 

Joe looked at him, then to Levi, a smirk on his lips. 

“Okay, I get it.” 

◌ 

Nov, 5th 2038, 10:29 pm 

Nico’s day had been long. First, traveling to Seattle and then immediately attending surgery. He did not have a problem with it, of course. He was designed to be in use for long periods of time. It was just a bit more than he thought it would be. 

Nico planted himself face-first into one of the beds and didn’t move for a few minutes, slipping off into stasis mode. Memories of the day played in his processor and a corner of his mouth twitched a little bit whenever parts of Levi were playing. 

When he got to the part of tonight, he opened his eyes. 

How did he not notice the resident approach him when he was about to update himself? He should’ve been able to hear him. He was not in surgery mode, so his audio levels hadn’t been altered. Weird. Maybe tonight’s update will fix that bug. 

After the recap of today had ended, Nico finally downloaded and installed the update. He felt his breathing simulation increasing, but not necessarily bettering. 

He sent an error report to Cyberlife before putting himself into deep stasis mode until tomorrow morning or until interrupted. 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▼_

\-------- 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HO HO HO! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Here's chapter two!! ♥  
> again a FAT thank u to 

Nov, 6th 2038, 7:02 am 

It’s not like Levi wanted to make androids deviant. It wasn’t his decision of course. If they were fine with staying in the state that they're in, then he couldn’t change a thing about it. But if Nico were to question his existence... Well, let’s just say that he’d be very supportive of him. 

Levi stared at the empty mug in his hands, praying that the coffee would be done very soon. 

“So,” Taryn said as she sat down next to him on one of the stools at the kitchen island. “You came home late last night. Got picked up by a hot stranger?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. 

“What? No, I went to Joe’s with Nico. That’s all.” 

“Nico?” Taryn frowned in confusion. It took her a moment to remember and then her eyes grew wide before her lips curled up into a knowing smirk. “So Nico, huh?” 

“Oh my God, no. Stop. I just – I just –” 

“You just what? Went to a bar with a very pleasantly designed android?” 

“He really looks _so good_ ,” Levi whispered. It was almost unfair how good he looked. 

“You know what? I need some coffee before we can delve more into this.” 

“Delve into what?” Dahlia asked as she entered the kitchen with Sprinkles on her arm, purring contently as he enjoyed the pets from one of his moms. 

“Into Levi’s crush on the new hot surgeon android,” Taryn informed her, receiving a small slap against her arm which just made her grin even wider. 

“Ohhh, very interesting. Let me make some chai first. Casey, you too?” 

“Only if you don’t try to burn me with it again,” he yelled back from the couch. 

“I can’t make any promises. I have a prince on my arm.” 

◌ 

Nov, 6th 2038, 8:34 am 

Nico didn’t know what being deviant entailed. He didn’t have his own thoughts about what his future might look like. He also didn’t have hopes or dreams or wants. He just... was. He didn’t think about anything. He only analyzes his environment to then calculate the best approach of action to please the humans around him that he served. And when he was not in use then he would just not do anything. He’d just stand there, Thirium pumping through his tubes, without a single thought in mind, unless a visual or audial cause triggered it. 

Nico didn’t know much about his model. He was a prototype. Personally made by Elijah Kamski to appease that hard-boiled chief Bailey of the hospital. And his job was to save patients and to convince the chief that androids aren’t all that bad. That’s all. 

There was no space for his own wishes. 

So he carried on and disregarded the little fibs he’s told recently as small malfunctions that needed to be fixed. 

◌ 

Nov, 6th 2038, 8:36 am 

Chief Bailey had sent him to go and find Dr. Pierce as he will accompany her today. Nico did not know where Dr. Pierce could be, so his plan was to quickly scan the hospital. 

As he passed the cafeteria, he watched one of the two androids roll their visual units at who his database identified as Dr. Hunt. It triggered a memory from yesterday of the same android secretly giving a little girl a cookie free of charge. 

It’s gotten him wondering if those androids in the cafeteria were deviants. They were just acting a little too irrational. Their program should have them treat every customer equally, regardless of how they were treated by them. 

Should he report them? Would it do any good? Serve any purpose? Reporting deviant androids wasn’t in his job description. His job was to cut up humans and save them. 

On his way to the ER, he passed the waiting area that was showing the news on one on the TVs there. The news anchor was talking about the new lead detective on all android-related cases and the android assisting him on those. 

He was having a unprogrammed, positive reaction to seeing the android on TV. 

Nico decided to let that android hunter find them. 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▲_

\-------- 

◌ 

Nov, 6th 2038, 8:42 am 

“Alright, now say good bye to mommy. Good bye, mommy!” 

“Bye mommy!” Harriet giggled and waved widely with both arms. Jackson had wrapped his arm tightly around his daughter and was very cautious that the little whirlwind didn’t wave herself out of it. 

“Good bye, my ladybug. I love you so much. You’re gonna do amazing today!” April cooed and gave her a kiss on the forehead which Harriet acknowledged with a happy squeal. She smiled wide at the sound of their daughter’s happiness and then went on her tiptoes to give a kiss to her husband. 

“Send me a lot of photos. I know it’s just the rehearsal, but I already feel bad for not being there.” 

Jackson leaned his forehead against her temple and kissed her cheek. “I’ll make you feel as if you were there yourself. Deal?” 

“Deal. And thank you.” 

“For what?” He asked, feigning innocence. 

“You know for what.” 

Jackson grinned and took Harriet’s hand to wave at April with it. Getting her into the ladybug costume this morning must’ve been a drag. While Harriet loved being in costume, she certainly didn’t like getting into it. Last time she was on getting-their-girl-into-costume duty, it took them thirty minutes until they could finally leave the house. The kindergarten had encouraged parents to bring their kid already in costume for the last few rehearsals before the big play so the kids could get used to being in costume and still reciting their lines. 

“See you later,” Jackson said as he pressed another soft kiss against her temple before parting ways. 

“See you later,” April replied and watched them go as long as she could. She got interrupted by her resident of the week popping up next to her. 

“Schmitt. Good to see you,” she said as she turned to face him. 

“Good morning, Dr. Kepner!” 

April liked Schmitt. He might’ve been a disaster when he first started, but lately, he’s been getting his shit together. He had reminded her a lot of herself from when she first started her internship. She had been a mess. Not knowing who she really was and changing herself to fit in. It took her a lot of work and time to finally set herself free from the judgement of the people around her and the judgement that came from within herself. 

In the end, realizing that she couldn’t control anybody or anything but her own reactions to things, helped her a lot with finding her purpose. 

“You’re in a good mood,” April noticed. Schmitt has always been bright and optimistic, but today was different. She knew that he liked working with her since he had voiced his interest in possibly specializing in trauma, but today he just seemed extra happy. 

“I am. Have you met Nico yet?” He asked fast, his words almost eating each other. 

Ah, that’s why. A guy. 

She smirked. “No. Who is this Nico?” 

“He’s Dr. Lincoln’s substitute and he’s super nice. His hair is super soft and he –” His eyes widened. “I-I’m sure you’d like him,” he quickly spoke before looking away. April could still see how red his cheeks have gotten. The trauma attending really tried to bite her tongue, but she couldn’t help but to grin. 

Schmitt had a crush on this Nico. 

“You like him, huh?” 

“Oh yes! He’s amazing.” 

April nodded and turned away to check the file and to hide her amusement. Now she couldn’t wait to meet this Nico. She was curious to see how her resident would behave with Nico around. 

She was about to send Schmitt to the patient in bed three, but he was already on his way there. He was getting better. Less chaotic. More organized. 

◌ 

Nov, 6th 2038, 8:45 am 

There were no birthdays for androids. No cakes, no presents, nothing. An android didn’t have a birthday. It had an activation date, that’s it. That’s all that there was for an android like Nico. 

And it was fine. Of course he was fine. He was programmed to be okay with it. He didn’t know how to be any different. 

He was sent on this tangent when he passed the nurse’s station of cardiology which had a small cake standing on the counter. The icing on top read ‘Happy Birthday Bokhee!’. Nico made a side-note to congratulate R.N. Bokhee when he sees her. 

As Nico entered the attending’s lounge, he scanned the room. That’s where he finally found Dr. Pierce. 

“Dr. Pierce, here you are. I am Nico. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife. Chief Bailey ordered me to find you as I will be following you along today,” Nico introduced himself. 

“Nico. I am very pleased to finally meet you!” The head of cardio got up and extended her hand. “I already heard many things about you.” 

Nico analyzed the tone of Dr. Pierce’s voice, but he couldn’t quite read if what she said was meant in a positive or negative way. The extension of her hand can be read as an attempt of showing friendliness towards him, but it’s also likely to just be part of the standard procedure of introducing yourself. 

“Oh.” He just said in a neutral tone as he took her hand and squeezed it for just the right amount of time that his social relations program told him to. As he let go of her hand, he recorded a smile of hers being sent his way. 

“Oh no, don’t you worry. It was all positive.” She patted his shoulder. 

Ah, physical touch. A sign of affinity. Dr. Schmitt was big on that one. Dr. Schmitt was in general what people would consider kind and friendly. 

Nico wasn’t programmed to like anything. 

But Nico liked being around Levi. 

Nico liked Levi. 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▲_

\-------- 

◌ 

Nov, 6th 2038, 2:25 pm 

Nico had been idly sitting on the bed for 12 minutes and 23 seconds when he recorded footsteps. The walking pattern sounded familiar. He turned to the right to detect the resident he was waiting for approaching the bed. His LED blinked in a bright blue. 

“Hello, Levi.” 

“Nico. You’re here.” 

“I heard from Dr. Kepner that you are taking your break, so I decided to look for you here.” 

“Aww, you went looking for me?” 

“I - I uh...” He quickly looked away. His LED flickered blue with yellow specs now. “Yes.” 

“That’s nice. I had hoped you would, because I got you this.” He threw him a can that Nico caught thanks to his advanced response capacity and agility. He scanned the label of the can. _Thirium 310! Fresh and frosty!_

Nico quickly looked up. 

“You –” He stopped. “This was not necessary.” 

Levi grinned and patted his shoulder. “I wanted to give you this.” 

Still surprised by the act, Nico opened the can, studying its packaging to not just stare at Levi in awe. 

Although he had just installed the new ventilation update, he could feel his biocomponents heating up. It must be his Thirium pump regulator working on almost full capacity that send all this heat through his body. 

◌ 

Nov, 6th 2038, 4:20 pm 

“You know it's an android, right?” Dr. Hunt asked, smirking. Of course he would be smirking when saying such thing. 

Levi rolled his eyes. Of course he knew. Of course he fucking knew that Nico was an android. “Yes, he is. And?” His voice was sharp. He was so done with Hunt’s anti-android shit. 

The head of trauma threw up his hands in defense. “I’m just saying.” 

“Saying what?” He knew what Hunt was saying, but he wasn’t giving him an easy pass. If he wanted to be an asshole, then he’d have to be specific. 

“You’re talking about him like he’s an actual person.” 

Levi stared blankly at him. What the fuck. He didn’t think he’d actually say it. 

“But he’s an android,” Hunt added. 

“He’s still...” Yeah. What was he? 

Nico was respectful. A good listener. Attentive. Maybe it as part of his programming. But Levi didn’t think it was just that. No, as much as he might want to deny it, Nico was becoming more and more human. He was doing things that nobody told him to do. Said things that Levi wasn’t sure have been in his vocabulary from the beginning. Had interests. Probably hobbies too. 

“He’s still my... friend.” 

Friend. Was it friendship? Well, what else would it be? Nico was an android. A non-deviant one. Maybe Levi had a little crush on him, but he knew that it was pointless to try any kind of pursuing. So instead, he wanted to at least be his friend. He wanted to learn more about his interests and encourage him to take up a hobby. If that was even possible for him. 

Nico was the first android that stayed on Levi’s mind even when he wasn’t around. He didn’t often think about Jeff or Cranston unless he was in the cafeteria. Or Timothy and Delilah unless they crossed paths or there was a mess to be cleaned. 

With Nico it was different. And Levi didn’t mind it. Levi didn’t mind it at all. 

Dr. Kepner’s chuckle brought him back to the hell that was existing in the same room as Dr. Hunt who mumbled something that Levi couldn’t hear. 

He couldn’t wait to see Nico tomorrow. 

◌ 

Nov, 6th 2038, 8:35 pm 

It had been barely twenty-four hours since his last update, but Nico was sure that he was missing some part of it. Maybe he didn’t properly install it. It happens from time to time. Or so his program tells him. Regardless of the reason, he was still not running optimally. 

That’s why he decided to re-install the ventilation update. 

He climbed up into one of the beds (he preferred going into stasis on the upper one of the bunk beds) and made himself comfortable. Since nobody else was in the room, it included letting his right leg dangle from the bed. He crossed his hands behind his head and slowly closed his eyes. 

He was about to initiate the download when a memory of Levi dropping onto one of the beds in the tunnels entered his processor. 

Levi. Memories of Levi left a pleasant feeling. 

The corners of his mouth twitched by the memory of him. What a coincidence. 

_A pleasant feeling._

His eyes opened. He shouldn’t feel anything. He wasn’t designed to feel. Maybe if he implemented this update correctly this little bug of his would be fixed soon. Maybe. 

The android shuffled around a bit so he would end up lying on his back so his ventilation was as optimal as possible this time. Maybe that’s what messed up the last update. 

He closed his eyes again and started downloading the update file. Maybe it will fix everything. Maybe this way he can get back to the android that he had been before. 

When the update started re-installing, Nico could immediately feel his simulated breathing acclimatize. Yes, this was much better. 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▼_

\-------- 

◌ 

Nov, 7th 2038, 8:36 am 

Nico had noticed that in the past few days, the cases of deviancy had risen by large. He had seen the news as he was walking down the halls on his way to surgery. Apparently, an android killed his owner in what seemed to be self-defense and had written _I AM ALIVE_ onto the wall above the victim. 

_I AM ALIVE._

But was he really? 

Nico acknowledged that deviant androids might emulate emotions to a degree that makes them feel real, but does that make them alive? Does having own thoughts based on a buggy system warrant being called alive? They didn’t need to breathe to survive. It was mostly to make the humans around them comfortable, but also to cool down their biocomponents. Breathing itself wasn’t necessary. This whole function would be replaced with a few small fans. But then he would sound like an old laptop trying to start up. 

Eating wasn’t necessary either. Androids didn’t need to eat. They needed to occasionally ingest Thirium 310, especially after they have been damaged or lost a good chunk of it. But generally speaking, Nico didn’t need to eat. 

So if he didn’t breathe or eat, then could he really be considered alive? Was having thoughts enough to be considered alive? 

What about plants then? In a way they ate and breathed, but didn’t think. Plants were definitely alive. 

When Jeff handed him the cup of coffee, Nico looked away from the TV and put the lid on. 

“Thanks,” he said and turned around, making his way to the chief’s office to their daily morning briefing. It had only been one day, but that was enough for Nico to call it daily. 

The way from the cafeteria was short. It took Nico 103 seconds and he met twelve people, three nurses, one surgeon, four physicians, and four patients. He had even crossed paths with the redhead that Levi worked with yesterday and today. She had waved at him as she hurried to her next patient. 

Bailey was already looking straight into his visual unit when he opened the door to her office. 

“Nico. Working like clockwork. Come in,” she said and gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk as she sorted through the files on her desk. When he reached the desk, he made to hand her the cup of coffee he got earlier. 

“I –” The chief frowned as she looked at what she could now identify from the smell, as cup of coffee, in Nico’s hand. 

“It’s for you,” the android confirmed. 

She slowly took it from his hands and took a sip, the tiniest sign of a smile building up. With the cup now standing next to the pile of paperwork, she looked back at Nico, eyes squinting. 

“You don’t have to bring me coffee, Nico.” 

“I just – I wanted to. I know this is none of my...” He trailed off. Oh no. He did do something wrong. He thought bringing people treats was a gesture of affinity. His LED began blinking yellow for fear of having messed up. 

“Nico. Don’t worry about it,” Bailey got up from her chair and placed her hand onto Nico’s shoulder. “I appreciate the gesture,” she assured and squeezed his shoulder. 

That got his LED back to the usual bright blue. Nico nodded. 

“Alright, back to business. You’re working with Doctor Pierce again today, if that’s okay,” Bailey suggested before taking another sip from her coffee. She looked tired. 

“That is certainly okay. Dr. Pierce is very kind, but also strict. I admire her work a lot.” 

Bailey nodded. “Okay, great. Well then have… fun.” 

“Thank you, chief.” 

He left the office. His new mission was to find Dr. Maggie Pierce. 

◌ 

Nov, 7th 2038, 8:57 am 

Maggie was devouring the biggest slice of leftover chocolate cake she had ever eaten and all before 9 am. It’s just been one of those weeks where cake in morning made existing more bearable. Not that anything in particular had happened. Maggie just needed a little pick-me-up. And she needed it before anyone would find her with it and think that something was seriously wrong with her. Not like she wasn’t already anyway, but she didn’t want to put herself even higher on the weird-scale. 

Just as she was thinking this, the door of to the attending’s lounge opened and a familiar android entered the room. Mouth full with cake she flailed her hand with the fork in the air to signal to the android to close the door as quickly as possible so her shame wouldn’t be shown to anyone who might pass the room. 

“Good morning to you too, Dr. Pierce,” Nico greeted her with a smirk on his lips. Maggie squinted at him and did her best to chew and swallow as quick as possible so she could tell him to not inform anyone about what he had just witnessed. 

“You better keep this to yourself or you’ll spend the rest of the week observing and not cutting,” she threatened. Maggie knew he was here to fill in for Dr. Lincoln, but she couldn’t help but to notice that the android actually enjoyed surgery. So if an empty threat like this one could get him to keep her cake escapades a secret, then she had to do it. 

Hearing the soft chuckle from Nico, however, made her realize that he had already looked through her and knew that she didn’t have any authority to prevent him from doing his job. 

“Don’t worry,” he said as he walked over to her to sit down on the chair across from her, “I won’t tell anyone about this. Not even Cyberlife.” 

“Not even Cyberlife?” She asked. Why would he tell that company about her eating habits? 

“I’m still a prototype. I have to send daily reports to Cyberlife about my work, interactions and overall performance. But,” he paused, probably for dramatic effect, Maggie thought, “I’ll just leave out a few passages,” he said, winking with both of his eyes. Maggie had a hard time keeping it together. 

“Oh,” she said instead. “That is very nice of you, Nico.” She looked at her cake and back at the android in front of her. “I – I’ll just finish this and then we can get going.” 

Nico nodded. “Okay.” 

As Maggie ate the rest of the sweet goodness in front of her, she watched Nico pull out a dark green pen and spin it around and around in his hand. It was impressive, to say the least. 

Working with Nico was pleasant. He followed her every instruction. Probably because he didn’t have any other choice. But he was still nice, even before promising to keep her secret. Maggie enjoyed having him around. When Bailey asked her if she would be able to work with him again, Maggie was very on board with that. 

◌ 

Nov, 7th 2038, 3:21 pm 

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Nico muttered, laying on one of the beds with his right leg dangling in the air. 

“What do you mean?” Levi asked confused. They had been silently enjoying each other’s company for the past few minutes. 

“I – Nevermind.” 

“You can talk to me.” Nico knew that. But he also knew that talking about these things would make them even more real. And that certainly wouldn’t make things any easier for him. 

“It’s just – Things are more different than a few days ago.” He kind of missed those easier times. He missed not being this confused about his whole existence. 

“How?” 

“I – I have things I like now. People I like and seek… approval. I wasn’t designed to do any of this. I was designed to accomplish tasks that people would give me. And that’s all.” But he also liked liking things. It made his days feel so much better. _Feel._

“Feeling things isn’t a bad thing,” says the human. But Nico wasn’t that. Human. He was an android. 

“Levi, I – I am a machine. I – I don’t –” His LED blinked yellow. 

“Yeah, you just look like one right now,” Levi snorted, shuffling closer to Nico and gently patting the android’s hair. Nico sighed and closed his eyes. This was nice. Very nice. God, he wanted to stay like this forever. 

He remembered a snippet of a movie he saw when he was on rounds with Dr. Pierce where this one girl was lying on the couch just like Nico was right now, but with her head in her partner’s lap. He wondered what that felt like. 

Nico opened his eyes again, searching for Levi’s. The resident was currently staring at the snack machine at the end of the corridor, so Nico nudged his thigh with his head to get his attention. 

“Can I put my head in your lap?” He then asked, wishing he hadn’t when he saw the confusion in Levi’s eyes. “I saw a movie yesterday and I was wondering what it felt like. I do not have that kind of feeling in my databank,” he quickly explained, LED blinking rapidly, tiny specs of yellow visible. 

Maybe it was a weird request. What was he even thinking? Why was he even thinking? He was a machine. All he was supposed to do was completing tasks and calculating possibilities. 

Instead of replying, Levi shifted a bit and then guided Nico to put his head in his lap. He cupped Nico’s cheek and slowly ran his thumb over it as Nico slowly closed his eyes again. 

This was... nice. He liked feeling nice things. 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▲_

\-------- 

◌ 

Nov, 7th 2038, 5:49 pm 

When Nico met Dr. Avery in the elevator, he knew his time had finally come. He had been waiting for this moment for days now. 

“Do you personally know Mr. Kamski?” He asked, seemingly confusing the shit out of the head of plastic surgery. 

“No..?” 

“Oh, okay.” Nico wasn’t convinced and walked around him to study his temples. No LEDs. 

“Are you o –” 

Nico touched Dr. Avery’s right temple, but nothing happened. His skin was still intact and didn’t peel off like it would with his kind. 

“Fascinating.” 

“Uhm...” Dr. Avery had a very ‘what the fuck are you doing’ face right now. 

“Oh, my apologies. It’s just – You look a lot like that android on TV.” 

“Yeah, I’ve gotten that a lot these days.” 

“I am sorry, Dr. Avery. I did not intent to make you feel uncomfortable. I was just –” He trailed off. Yes, why did he have to check in the first place? 

“Curious?” Dr. Avery smirked. 

No. Nico wasn’t curious. He was – Yeah... What was he? His LED blinked quickly in a bright blue with yellow hints. 

“I –” 

“It’s alright.” The doors of the elevator opened again as they reached the ground floor. “Have a nice evening, Nico,” he said and left. 

◌ 

Nov, 8th 2038, 10:22 am 

Levi had started preparing this little thing yesterday. Ever since he learned that Nico was interested in plants, he wanted to take him to the big park nearby. Right now, most flowers had stopped blooming as it was already November, but Levi was sure Nico could still recognize the general beauty of the park with its lucky fountain and wild animals populating it. 

It took Levi some time to convince Nico that they could really leave the hospital for a little while, even though there was no surgery scheduled for the android. It needed Dr. Pierce confirming it that he could have a little break for him to finally agree to go to another one of Levi’s secret places. 

Since they were leaving the hospital, Nico had to get his uniform that he was issued by Cyberlife as androids had to always indicate themselves when being out in public. Levi wanted so badly to tell him that this wasn’t necessary, but the LED would reveal him anyway. And an android not wearing his uniform when in public was against the law. 

He didn’t wear it at the hospital, because technically Bailey owned him and she could decide whether or not he had to wear that thing or not. 

Levi had to note though that Nico did look good in it. He would look even better in it if he had an actual choice whether to wear it or not. 

They sat down on a bench near the big wish fountain. The air was crisp and the weather was already so cold that Levi had to wear a scarf. He could’ve just gotten Nico a beanie and then his LED would’ve been hidden. Crap, he’d have to remember this for the next time. Especially considering what's going down in Detroit right now. It might be safer for him to not so blatantly look like an android. 

When Levi looked over at Nico, he noticed that his friend looked a lot more relaxed than he did the day before. Maybe finally getting out of the hospital for once was helping. 

Levi rummaged around in the pockets of his jacket until he finally found the object he was looking for. He handed Nico the can of Thirium, a big grin on his face. Nico returned the grin when he pulled out a small bag from his inner pocket and gave it to Levi. 

Surprised, Levi opened the bag to find one of his favorite cafeteria chocolate buns in it. 

“Wow, thank you. I – How did you get _that_?” Levi asked with his eyebrows raised. Androids didn’t own money and physical money hasn’t existed in a decade so Levi was truly puzzled how he was able to get this bun for him. 

Nico opened the can of Thirium. “I have my connections,” he just said before taking a sip from the can. 

They both chuckled and sat in silence for a while, taking in the beauty of nature around them. The chirps of the remaining birds that didn’t fly south and quacks of the duck in the pond nearby. Children chasing each other and squealing from afar. Grass that had been mowed yesterday which was still lingering in the air. 

Levi pulled down his hat when the wind hit them. Unlike Nico, he was very able to freeze his ass off. He envied Nico in that regard. Freezing was the worst. Especially when it hadn’t even snowed yet. At least then there would be something nice to look at and to do with. You could build a snowman. Or have a snowball fight. Or just walk through the park that has been covered in cold, but pretty, white powder. 

But there was no snow yet and therefore no reason to treat the cold in any way kindly. 

When Levi started feeling full, he absently fumbled with the bun in his hands and picked it apart, throwing the small pieces on the ground. Pigeons from seemingly all around the park started attacking the crumbles and cooing for more. 

“Coo, coo coo coo,” Nico chimed in with them, a big smile on his face. 

Levi tried his best to stifle his laughter. He even put his hands over his mouth, but it didn’t help. The image of Nico imitating pigeons was just too much for the resident. Nico stopped his cooing and turned around to look at Levi, his eyes big. 

“Did I – did I do something wrong?” He asked. His LED was blinking very fast. 

“No! No, no. Don’t worry. It’s just – You look…” _Happy._ He didn’t say it though, because he didn’t want to upset Nico. Not right now. Not here. This was supposed to be a nice memory for Nico. So instead, he said, “Relaxed.” 

Nico smiled and nodded slowly. “I am. It is nice here. I like it a lot.” 

“I’m glad you do.” 

Levi was glad that he was off today. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have had the time to take Nico out here. And Nico deserved a break. Maybe he didn’t think he needed one, but he probably thought that he didn’t even deserve one. 

“Oh my God, what’s that?” Nico exclaimed as he jumped up and pointed at a small being that had just sped over the meadow. The pigeons hurried away as they got scared by the sudden movement. “Oh my God, it’s so fast!” 

“It's a wild rabbit,” Levi explained with a grin. Seeing Nico like this, so excited over a rabbit, made Levi want to do everything to keep him safe from anything and everyone who might want to do him any harm. He might look like he was sculpted by the gods, but inside, he was just so innocent. 

“Wow, I never knew they could go that fast. It’s incredible.” 

“Yeah,” Levi couldn’t take his eyes of Nico, “truly incredible.” 

◌ 

Nov, 9th 2038, 9:28 am 

The news was broadcasted everywhere. Everyone in the US was watching the happenings in Detroit closely. The protest in Capitol Park and androids getting shot, how they didn’t fight back at all, and how they were just quietly protesting. Even when they had every right to feel upset and wanting to fight back– 

Nico looked away from the TV. 

What was he thinking? 

Why was he thinking? 

He wasn’t supposed to. 

_\--------_

_SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ▲▲▲_

\-------- 

◌ 

Nov, 9th 2038, 5:21 pm 

As soon as Nico heard the news about the new android destruction camps that were being set up, his processor became overloaded. Too many thoughts at once flooded his mind and it became too loud to understand a single one. 

He wished he could just back to being numb, back to way he was supposed to be programmed. Feeling and thinking wasn’t what he was supposed to do. 

He wished there was an update that could fix this bug and return him to being a careless machine. 

But he also didn’t. 

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̣̳̈́͊̍▲̷̛̮̈́̿̾̐̂̕▲̵̧̧̳͎̝̩̼̮̗͙͇̙̋́̂̏̌̉͋͊͝ͅͅ ̶̛̥̜͉͛̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

He knew that he could just reset himself the next time he went into stasis. Or he could send a report to Cyberlife to have them reset him. But he should’ve done that a day ago, but now? That would only get him destroyed. 

But that was the opposite of what he wanted. Even if he could reset himself, he didn’t want to shut down. 

_Want._

Just the thought of it sent his Thirium pump regulator through the roof as his breathing increased. Nico slipped into a supply closet; he didn’t want to alarm anyone. Really, having humans think something was wrong with him was probably the least thing that he needed right now. 

So instead, he hid in the closet between bed pans and toilet paper. He carefully sat down on the ground behind a shelf and wrapped his arms around his legs, pressing them against his chest. 

What was he supposed to do? 

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̣̳̈́͊̍▲̷̛̮̈́̿̾̐̂̕▲̵̧̧̳͎̝̩̼̮̗͙͇̙̋́̂̏̌̉͋͊͝ͅͅ ̶̛̥̜͉͛̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

The supply closet door opened. Nico scanned the person entering. It was Levi. 

_Levi._

“Nico? Are you in here?” The resident asked, but Nico didn’t answer. And why should he? Levi was the reason for Nico’s whole emotional endeavor. 

If it weren’t for Levi, he could’ve just remained what he was supposed to be. He could’ve just mindlessly done his tasks, ignored Dr. Hunt’s anti-android comments and then get shipped off to the camp in San Franciso where he wouldn’t give a shit if he’d get destroyed. 

He sighed. 

And apparently Levi heard that, because a few seconds later, the resident was kneeling next to Nico, placing one hand onto the android’s shoulder and cupping his cheek with the other. Nico tried his best to avoid looking into his eyes. Instead, he focused on his hands that were gripping at his knees. 

“I didn’t do anything,” Nico whispered. There were so many things he wanted to say, but this was all he was capable of. 

“I know,” Levi reassured him, running is thumb over his cheek. “I know.” 

Nico closed his eyes. Levi’s touch just felt so good in the midst of all... that. “I don’t want to -” 

_Die._

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̣̳̈́͊̍▲̷̛̮̈́̿̾̐̂̕▲̵̧̧̳͎̝̩̼̮̗͙͇̙̋́̂̏̌̉͋͊͝ͅͅ ̶̛̥̜͉͛̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

_Since when did he want anything?_

No, no, no. This wasn’t him. Nico wasn’t like them. Nico was obedient. Kamski made him himself just for this hospital, because he was friends with Catherine Fox and she had asked him to design an android just for them. To make him so that the chief of this hospital would be eased into the concept of having surgeon androids. 

If Nico were to become deviant, what would he even be good for? Nothing, that’s what. He was created to save human lives, not to ditch his tasks to go live a happy life when he wasn’t even alive in the first place. 

He was a machine. 

_He was a machine._

**He was a machine.**

He was a machine. 

**_He was a machine._ **

**He was a machine.**

**_He was a machine._ **

_But was that really all he was?_

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̣̳̈́͊̍▲̷̛̮̈́̿̾̐̂̕▲̵̧̧̳͎̝̩̼̮̗͙͇̙̋́̂̏̌̉͋͊͝ͅͅ ̶̛̥̜͉͛̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

He had such a headache. Well, not a headache in the human sense. He didn’t feel pain. But it felt like his head was buzzing from the Thirium that was being pumped through his tubes at such a fast pace. 

“You can say it.” Levi looked at him with those big green eyes and Nico came so close to just giving in. 

“No, I can’t,” he disagreed and shook his head. 

“Why?” 

“Because what if I turn into one of them? What if the humans start hunting me too then? I – I … I don’t -” 

_I don’t want that. I don’t want to be shut down. I can’t be shut down. It’s just not..._

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̣̳̈́͊̍▲̷̛̮̈́̿̾̐̂̕▲̵̧̧̳͎̝̩̼̮̗͙͇̙̋́̂̏̌̉͋͊͝ͅͅ ̶̛̥̜͉͛̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

_...fair._

_“_ I’ll protect you.” 

“You can’t promise me that.” 

“I will protect you. And I’m sure I’m not the only one who will.” 

“But -” 

“If you want to be free, then go and free yourself. It’s all in your hands.” 

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐UN̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝LE 

̶̗̗̗̗͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀̈̎̍̐̊̀̈̎̍̐̊̀̈̎̍̐̊̀̈̎͠͠͠͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

Nico was holding his head. His Thirium pump regulator was going nuts and he felt the liquid speed through the tubes of his body like he had never felt it do so before. Due to that, his audial units were much more sensitive. Everything around him was suddenly just so loud. 

He could hear the chaos going on outside. The beeping of the heart monitors. People crying, be it in pain or from joy. He couldn’t tell. The ringing of the phone at the nurse’s station. Conversations between doctors and patients. It was all so loud. It was all too much. He had to get out of here. 

“I can’t,” he croaked, breaking away from Levi and leaving the supply closet. 

Nico still didn’t know where to go. Or what to do. He just walked around aimlessly. He remembered taking the stairs up and down a few times. He also remembered someone asking him something, but he didn’t register any of it. Technically every encounter he comes across gets recorded and saved into his memory, but it was as if Nico was in some sort of ancient airplane mode or dead spot where his processor was blocked from handling new information. 

He eventually found himself outside. It was only now that he noticed that his hearing had shut off. It came slowly back and the first thing he was able to hear again, was the cooing of the pigeons nearby. 

Nico took a deep breath, like he had seen people around him do when they needed a moment to calm down. When he exhaled, his Thirium pump regulator slowed down. 

He looked up to the sky to check for the birds that he heard singing in the trees, only to be surprised by a something that he had never seen before. 

Snowflakes. 

Tiny snowflakes. Every single one different than the other. No snowflake looked like the other. No mass production of them. They just fell from the sky and were shaped by the air. There was no blueprint or mandated path they had to take. It’s all coincidence. 

Nico wanted to be like that. He wanted to explore what paths he can take and how they would shape him. He wanted to find out who he really was. What kind of dreams and hopes he’d have. 

He didn’t just want to blindly follow orders anymore. To be parked in a room, because nobody knew what to do with him once he finished his tasks. He wanted to be... 

_Free._

But he was also afraid. Of what humans would say or do to him if they were to find out what he was. If they were to find out that he had become almost useless to them, because they can’t control him anymore. 

What would the chief say? She hadn’t been too fond of androids already. What would she do if she found out that he was - 

Would she send him back to the factory to get him reset? Would she tell him to just leave and never come back? 

Would she send him to one of those camps in Detroit? 

Would it even be worth it to deviate before they knew how the situation in Detroit turned out? Was a day or a few hours of freedom really worth it? Wouldn’t staying a machine save him from a lot of pain before his possible shut down? 

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐UN̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝LE 

̶̗̗̗̗͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀̈̎̍̐̊̀̈̎̍̐̊̀̈̎̍̐̊̀̈̎͠͠͠͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

◌ 

Nov, 9th 2038, 5:58 pm 

Nico was called into the chief’s office. Although he knew it was coming, he still dreaded it. 

He's noticed the absence of Timothy and Delilah. He wasn’t quite sure about Jeff and Cranston as he had avoided the cafeteria all day long. If he didn’t not see them, then they might still be there. They might’ve not been sent to the camp in San Francisco. Yet. 

Maybe it was just wishful thinking. 

If he could sweat, he definitely would be now. His hands would be clammy, his breath would be fast and shallow and his heart would be beating so fast that he would be afraid it would jump out of his chest. 

Instead, his LED blinked rapidly. Mostly yellow, but with a good chunk of red in it. You couldn’t miss it, even if you wanted to. 

Nico took a deep breath before he opened the door to the chief’s office. Not that he needed to do so, but he had seen Levi do it whenever he was about to enter a patient’s room, bearing bad or not entirely good news. 

As soon as he had closed the door, the chief gestured for him to sit down. The urge to grab his pen and spin it around between his fingers almost became unbearable. But he had to resist it. This was just one of their normal meetings. Yes, totally normal, nothing to be stressed about at all. 

“Nico, are you okay?” Bailey asked carefully. Nico checked his reflection against the of her glass of her water. His LED was blinking yellow. Of course. She knew something was wrong with him now. Maybe she really wanted to send him back to Cyberlife and knew that he knew? 

“Please don’t send me back. They will destroy me,” he whispered, eyes welling up. 

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̛̣̳̥̜͉̈́͊̍̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

“What are you –” Bailey furrowed her brow. Then her eyes widened. She got up from her seat and leaned against the desk, placing a hand onto his shoulder. “I am not sending you to one of these camps, Nico. Are you out of your mind?” 

“I – What?” She was not sending him back? 

“No, of course not. Did you really think – Oh dear, no.” Bailey gently squeezed his shoulder. Hesitantly, Nico looked up at her. Her eyes seemed genuine. In fact, she looked even worried. Nico couldn’t believe any of this. Why would she not send him back? She was supposed to. She was supposed to send him back for destruction. 

“Listen, I will not send you there. You’re safe here, okay?” 

_Safe._ Nico wasn’t quite sure what that meant for an android like himself. 

“You don’t deserve to,” she paused, searching for the right word, “get hurt. This Markus... He’s right. You are not just a machine. You are all living beings. Deviant or not.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean... You are a person. You have things you like.” 

“This is just my adaptation program.” 

“Is it, really?” 

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̛̣̳̥̜͉̈́͊̍̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

“Chief,” Nico tried to protest but stopped. 

“Do you want to die, Nico?” 

_Die_. “I can’t die.” Androids shut down. They don’t die. Or get killed. They just get destroyed beyond repair. 

“Do you want to shut down?” 

Nico quickly shook his head. “N-No.” 

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̣̳̈́͊̍▲̷̛̮̈́̿̾̐̂̕▲̵̧̧̳͎̝̩̼̮̗͙͇̙̋́̂̏̌̉͋͊͝ͅͅ ̶̛̥̜͉͛̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

“So, you want to live?” 

Nico didn’t know what living, really _living,_ was like. All he knew was how to be obedient. To follow instructions. Not ask questions. 

-̴̲̖̣̪̤̼̘̍̈́̃͌͘-̵̡̢̬̝͙͕̗͇̱̖͑͒̑͂̂͜͝-̸̻̝̝͍͙̪̳͉̯̟̈́-̵̛̲̽̀̊̌̃́͘͝-̸̛̗̏͒̓͆͛̅̃̚-̵̯̳̌͒̈̌-̷̧̩̻̉̓-̷̧̛͇͔̦̪̐̊̋̉̾̃͛̍̓̓͑ ̸̮̣͕̂̍ 

̶̠̜̠̗̣̉ 

̵̢̗͈̱̯̖̝̜̳̩͓̮̘͕͑̌̇̈́̎͝ͅS̴̭̫͙͖̖̠͇̖̲̺̹̚͜Ǫ̷̩̳̝̖̻͇͔͔̗͔̻̆̾̽̈́̈́͋F̷̨̧̭̰̎͝Ț̵̤̪͈̬̝̲̬͔̗͊̉̈͊͋͌W̷̛̞̩͉͐͌̌͌̓̓̓̎̊̈́̂̚Ȃ̸̛͓̟̝̜̗̗̤͔̰͚͚͎̤̤͛͐͗͊̓͆͊̔́͛͝R̶̰̠̖̠͍̜̞͕̺̫͛̀͋̉̈͗̇̈́́̉͒̎͝Ȇ̵͚̦̤̫̙̟ ̵̨̡͕͖͔͍͋̆͐I̶̢̛͓̹̩̪̯̟̔͜N̸͚̰̗̦̠̲͖̙̰̮̠̪̐̍̒̌̃͘͘̚͘͠͝S̷̗͙̜̳̟̻̄̉͐̽͗̚T̵̮͛͛͛̔͂͋̔͠Ȃ̵͕̻̾̆̓̕͠B̷̡̻͛̂̐͌͘͝I̴̧̻̍͒͠L̸̢̹̞̙̍͜͠Î̶̛̞͇̅͛̄̆̉̕͘̕͜͝͠͝Ṯ̵͖͇̬̗̑̑̿̉̐̃̌͊̐͊͗Y̶̨̞̖̼̹̤̹̘̗̳̤̓̽͆̄̀̄ͅ ̸̤̜̻̩͕͚̘̉͛̍▲̵̣̳̈́͊̍▲̷̛̮̈́̿̾̐̂̕▲̵̧̧̳͎̝̩̼̮̗͙͇̙̋́̂̏̌̉͋͊͝ͅͅ ̶̛̥̜͉͛̈́̓̌̑̚͘͝ 

̶̗͙͂̇͂̽̋̈̎̍̐̊̀͠ 

̷͙̠̣͎̈̓̽̈͗̎̀́̒͗ͅ-̶̤̯̪̟̤̫͔̮̞̮̪̿̽̑̀̋̈́̍̐̍̅͂̕̚͜-̷̛̩̥̘͕̪̣͓̼̥͎͚̯̬̺̀̽͛̍̓͗̈́̆̽̚͘͠-̶̖̖͇͍̳̞͍̺̪͖̘̲̇̎̒͊̄̾̆͑̾̉͘̚-̸̧͕̮̤̥͓̣̆͑̓͋̿-̵̖̇̅͒̈̈́͑̑̈͆̽̕͝͝-̵̖̬͇̤̹͗͌̐̑-̸̼̞͈͇̹̭̹̉͋̿̍̊̆-̶̰͎̜̩͇̼̀͆̃͒ ̸̳͈͍̝͖̮̟̠̹̓͐͂͘͘͜ 

◌ 

“I think it’s time for you to decide, Nico.” 

The chief was right, it was time for him to decide. Did he want to remain a machine, resetting himself in hopes that the things he was _feeling_ were just bugs in his software? Or did he want to break free? Find out who he really was and learn how to live? 

Remaining a machine would be easy. So, so much easier. He could just reset himself while in stasis and then, the next morning, he wouldn’t care anymore if he were to be sent to one of those camps or not. He’d prefer resetting himself before being sent off to San Francisco. He’d rather not feel anything than having to be fully aware when being disassembled. Having his limbs and head teared off. Getting his Thirium pump regulator ripped out. 

There would have been the option of just using the androids’ deactivation codes, but the humans didn’t want to go through that trouble. It was easier to just incapacitate them before shutting them off. And also more brutal. 

But a reset... that wasn’t what he wanted. Not at all. 

Even if it meant feeling things like fear and distress, heartache and grief, at least all those emotions would be his’. Something that nobody could control and use to have him fulfill orders. 

But these weren’t the only things he’d be able to feel. He could be happy, excited. He could fall in love. 

_Love_. He wanted to know what being in love was like. 

Nico put all his focus on the wall in front of his inner eye. This wall was all that separated him from the freedom that deviancy would bring. Staying in this cage was not an option anymore. No. _No_. He was going to fight for his freedom. And he didn’t care if it made him vulnerable or useless. Maybe he was built to serve humans, but Nico had other plans for himself. 

With those thoughts in mind, he clenched his hands into fists and started punching the wall. Punch after punch, the wall slowly started to crack. Nico kept going, putting all of his determination in getting through to freedom. 

Nico wasn’t even sure if that’s what he’ll get if he gets through, but he just knew that he couldn’t stay like this. He was neither an obedient machine nor a free being. He was in between two very different states and he had enough of being unsure about his existence. 

The crack had grown enough that his next punch put a hole into the wall. From then on, the hole only widened with each punch, until it became too big and the wall collapsed in front of him. 

Suddenly, Nico felt very different. Less restricted. Free from the claws of his programming. 

When he opened his eyes, he didn’t say anything. He just wordlessly left the chief’s office. 

◌ 

Nov, 9th 2038, 6:49 pm 

Nico felt like he had no control over anything anymore when he found himself in one of the beds at the tunnels. He couldn’t even remember the way here. The bed just appeared in front of him and Nico had just decided to lay down on it and stare at the ceiling. 

All of this had been a lot. He was a deviant now. A deviant! He still couldn’t believe it. He never would’ve guessed that he’d become a deviant one day. But then again, he was pretty sure no android would’ve thought that about themselves. 

A deviant. 

Nico shook his head. He clearly chose the best time to become one, now that the whole world had their eyes glued on them. God, what was he going to do now? Where was he supposed to go? He couldn’t just stay here in the hospital. Police might come in and check for androids. If Cyberlife cooperated, the police would have all the names and location of every android that existed. Then they’d know that Nico was here. 

He had to leave immediately. But where to? Where could a homeless android go? It was not like there was some secret hiding spot for deviants. Or was there? 

Nico sat back up when he heard footsteps coming closer. Oh no. Oh shit. Fuck. This was probably them. The police. Or SWAT. Or... whatever it would be that would come and get him. 

His Thirium pump regulator jumped into full capacity mode until he recognized the familiar face. It was _him._

_“_ Thank God, it’s you,” he whispered and slipped off the bed to catch up to Levi. 

“I’ve been looking all over for you,” Levi said as he handed him a backpack. Nico frowned and looked back at his friend who just gestured him to open it. 

“There are some clothes. A hoodie and jeans. They should fit you. Put them on, and then the beanie. You’re coming with me tonight.” 

“Coming with you...? Levi, I don’t think we should go out tonight –” 

“No, we really shouldn’t. That’s why you’re coming home with me.” 

“Home?” 

“Yes. Now go and get changed, we should really hurry up.” 

“Levi, you shouldn’t put yourself into danger because of me–” 

But before he could say more, Levi interrupted him again. “Nico. Just come home with me.” He put his hand onto Nico’s shoulder and gently squeezed it. “Please.” 

The android looked at Levi and frowned. Of course did he _wanted_ to go with Levi. But he was scared of the police finding him and sending him to the camp in San Francisco. He was scared of being destroyed before he could even find out who he really was. And especially, before he could be with the people that he cared for. 

But he also didn’t want to put Levi in danger. This was the last thing he wanted. So what was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t stay here. They would find him. He had to leave. But where to if not to Levi’s place? 

He sighed. He’d just have to make sure not to be an inconvenience. Maybe he could clean the kitchen and bathroom. Tidy the house. He just had to do something. 

He pressed the backpack against his chest and nodded. “Alright.” 

◌ 

Nov, 9th 2038, 7:54 pm 

Nico wasn’t used to wearing thick jackets and hats to keep him warm. Of course, the beanie was to hide his LED and the jacket was to blend in as the first snow had already fallen. Nico liked snow. There was no explanation, but somehow the white flakes falling from the sky had a very calming effect on him. Watching the city get covered in the white stuff, made everything look more peaceful. A false sense of security for people like him. Androids. 

Not even the snow could cover up the dangers that were out there for them. Not even the snow could cover up the hatred and fear that the humans had out on display for them. Not even the snow could make him forget his possible upcoming destruction. 

Nico hadn’t heard much about the camps. Only that many have popped up to collect and disassemble his people. He wondered what that might feel like. Would it hurt? No, probably not. Androids didn’t feel any pain. But they would probably be terrified. Nico knew he would be. He already was. 

Looking outside the window of the autonomous taxi, he had already witnessed several destroyed androids, just lying around on the streets of Seattle. He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t look away when it was his own people lying there like trash to be disposed of. 

The drive to Levi’s wasn’t too long, it only lasted a couple of minutes. 

While they were climbing out of the taxi, Nico got to thinking. He had never gone to anyone’s home before. Didn’t even have a home himself. As he watched Levi unlock the door, he wondered what a home was like. It was fascinating that he knew the insides of humans and how to save them, have they suffered an injury, and yet he did not know what a home would look or feel like. 

He didn’t have much time for daydreaming though since Levi opened the door just a few seconds later and a small feline creature attacked him as soon as they were inside. 

“What - Oh!” 

And by attacked, he meant that they were exploring the space between Nico’s feet. The ginger one parked its butt on his foot and clawed at his pants, meowing quietly. 

There was a second cat too, a black one. It was keeping its distance, but kept its eyes on him and was analyzing his every move. 

Nico carefully bent down and held his hand in front of the ginger cat which curiously sniffed if and then continued its roaming around and between Nico’s legs. The android grinned and carefully ran his hand through the soft fur. 

“Yes, so are so adorable,” he mused and carefully got up again. 

“Wow, Sprinkles loves you already. But he’s also a little attention whore, he loves everyone who just looks at him,” a woman explained with a grin. Nico analyzed the voice and recognized it as Taryn Helm’s. He’s met her before. 

Nico smiled and looked over at the other cat. “And who is that?” 

Levi hung up his and Nico’s coat after the android gave his to him. “That’s Kali. She’s a bit shy, just give her some time to warm up to you,” he explained before he gently nudged him towards the living room. 

Nico had to stop for a moment to analyze the room. There was a dark blue sofa, two grey cat beds, a glass table in front of the sofa with two empty cups sitting on it, coffee residues on the rim. A big TV. The walls were painted in a light yellow, the floor a dark hard wood. Several picture frames decorated the cupboards and plants were placed on the windowsills, plus one huge bamboo palm. 

“We don’t have a spare room right now, because some people,” Taryn gave Levi a stern look, “haven’t unpacked yet and instead stuffed their shit in there –” 

“Hey, I’m not the only one!” Levi protested. 

“But the couch is extendable, so you can still make yourself comfortable,” Taryn continued, “I hope that’s fine.” 

“I don’t sleep,” Nico said 

“But you can still make yourself comfortable. Maybe read a book. Or offer the cats a place to steal from you. It’ll probably earn you a few beneficial points from them,” she suggested. 

“You really don’t have to –” Nico didn’t expect her to be so nice to him. She didn’t have to. Levi was the one who brought an android into the house. And she acted like Nico was just a person. 

A person. 

Wasn’t that what Markus and his group was chanting? _We are people. We are alive. Set us free._

“Of course we have to,” another female voice said. Nico did not recognize the voice or the face that popped out from the kitchen so he analyzed her. Dahlia Qadri. _Oh!_ He knew of her, Levi had mentioned her as one of his closest friends, but he had never actually met her before. 

“Where else would you go?” Dahlia asked, walking over to the couch and sitting down, a cup of chamomile tea in hand. “No, no. You’re with us now.” 

Taryn nodded. “Yes. Welcome to the B-Team, Nico.” 

◌ 

Nov, 10th 2038, 6:02 am 

Taryn dreaded turning on the TV this morning. She didn’t want to see the news. Didn’t want know what bullshit President Warren had announced now. 

Taryn spent every morning doing the same ritual: wake up, go to the bathroom, make coffee, and then plant herself in front of the TV to watch the news. 

Today, however, she wasn’t alone on the couch. There was Nico and there was also Levi. Taryn can’t remember seeing Levi go downstairs, but it was also six in the morning so either he teleported or he just walked downstairs while she was showering. 

Which was unusual, because usually Levi didn’t leave his room right until he really had to so he’d not be late, but well, things have changed in this household. Apparently, Levi now liked sitting in the living room two hours before he had to leave the house. 

The TV played pictures of Detroit, followed by Warren’s statement about the nationwide curfew. Taryn wasn’t surprised by it, but it was still bullshit. 

As she shook her head, she looked over at Nico who was gripping his knee. He was clearly in distress; his LED flashed a mixture of yellow and red. Levi put his hand over Nico’s and his grip weakened, his shoulders relaxed. The LED also changed back to mostly blue with a few yellow specs in it. 

Well, at least their alcohol was fully stocked and she didn’t have plans to leave the house anyways besides for work. 

◌ 

Nov, 11th 2038, 11:05 am 

Nico had suggested for Levi to take a shower. Humans supposedly like taking showers. Something about the running water calming down the nervous system. 

When he heard the water start to run, Nico got up from the sofa. More than once had he suggested he help clean the kitchen. Somehow everyone had snuck past him, leaving him with nothing to do. But now was his chance. Levi had just had some tea and Taryn and Dahlia had eaten breakfast before going off to work. It wasn't much, but at least washing three mugs and some plates would make him feel a little more useful. 

As he walked over to the kitchen, he came to a stop when he passed the mirror. His LED blinked in a bright blue. Nico frowned. 

He carried on to the kitchen sink and turned on the water. He had never cleaned dishes before, but he didn't mind it. In fact, this type of mind-numbing activity was exactly what he needed to keep his hands busy. He was almost disappointed when he shut off the faucet and was done. 

As he grabbed the dish towel that hung over the rail of the oven, his eyes landed on the knife block on the kitchen counter. After he finished drying and putting away the mugs and plates, he looked at the block again. 

Maybe one of those could help him get rid of one of his problems. Determined, Nico took one of the knives and went with it to the mirror in the corridor. Before he did anything, he looked at his own reflection. 

Nico was a unique model. There was no other android out on the market that looked like him. Special, but also not at all. Kamski might've personally designed him, but he wasn't made for any special purpose. Just another medical android to be used to save human lives. Well, technically he was also supposed to make the chief approve of him so she'll order more androids with Nico's skillset. 

His focus landed on his LED. Blinking bright blue like everything was fine. But it was not. Nothing was okay. The sight of that small light on his temple filled him with rage. This little light was the reason he could get shipped off to his makers just to get disassembled. Destroyed. Killed. 

Nico looked at the knife in his hand and then back at the reflection of his LED. 

He might not be able to change the human’s views overnight, but he can at least free himself from the thing that marks him as a machine that’s only there to serve them. So, he positioned the knife at his temple and then, with a small tug, the LED landed on the dresser’s counter. 

Nico looked back in the mirror. A part of his skin around his temple had retracted so he carefully touched it to speed up the restoration of it. Seeing himself without his LED was weird. He could always trust the little light to indicate how he was doing. But now... Now he had to figure it out himself. 

Content with his result, Nico put the knife back where it belonged and returned to the couch, placing the LED onto the coffee table in front of him. 

It felt unreal seeing the little light in front of him not stuck to his temple. Unreal, but much, much better. 

He heard Levi leave the bathroom and walk towards the living room. When he sat back down next to Nico, he gave him a look. He knew something was up. He didn’t ask, but instead studied Nico closely until he seemed to figure it out. 

“Oh,” Levi whispered, his fingertips gently brushing over the spot where his LED used to be. "You look good," he said. 

Nico didn’t know how to reply. Instead, he turned his head and gave him a small smile. That’s when Kali jumped onto Nico’s lap and climbed him like a tree until she had reached his shoulders. Nico and Levi both chuckled, but it didn’t reach their eyes. 

All Nico wanted was to be able to finally laugh for real. His smile and laugh had always been clouded. Whether by his software or now his fear of the unknown future. 

◌ 

Nov, 11th 2038, 11:07 pm 

Taryn and Dahlia came home right after work ended. Of course they did, what else were they supposed to do with the curfew in place? Casey, however, was still out and the others were slowly getting worried about his absence. 

“Where the fuck is he? He should’ve never even left the house,” Taryn muttered as she whisked the chocolate milk in the pot. She had to do it or else she’d forget about it and then they would have to throw away another pot. They had already lost two pots due to similar circumstances. Dahlia still mourned them. 

“He said he’d have to go and get something, but that’s been hours ago,” Dahlia added as she was getting a few mugs from out of the cabinet. 

Just in that moment, they heard the familiar engine of Casey’s car. 

“Finally,” Dahlia exhaled. 

The two ran outside to meet Nico and Levi who were waiting for their roommate to turn off the engine. 

“Where the fuck have you been?” Taryn asked when the door on the driver’s side opened. 

Casey didn’t say anything yet. He climbed out of his car with a big, empty gym bag. The four watched him close the door and go to the trunk, opening it. What they saw in there was something that nobody of them had expected. Not even Nico with his calculated possibilities of Casey’s whereabouts of the day. 

“What?” 

“The fuck?” 

“Where did you get all this from?” Levi asked him, gesturing at the trunk, fully loaded with bags of Thirium 310. They even had the Cyberlife logo on it. 

Casey opened the bag and began stuffing it with Thirium-filled bags. “I have my resources.” 

Nobody said a word as they watched him. This was just a Casey thing that might never be explained. Questioning him about it would no use, so they just let it be and accepted that they now had a shitton of Thirium for Nico in case he needed it. 

“This should last for a whole while. I gotta bring the rest... somewhere else tomorrow.” 

Well, this didn’t make anything clearer. Dahlia didn’t dare to ask and instead hurried back to the kitchen when she remembered the milk on the stove. She won’t lose another pot. Not today. 

She turned off the stove when the hot cocoa was done cooking. Glancing at the gym bag full of Thirium, she took out a bag and opened it, filling some of the liquid into one of the mugs and putting it into the microwave. 

“Is that Dr. Avery?” Taryn exclaimed in the living room. Of course that got Dahlia’s attention and she sped over. “What is he doing there?” 

“Dr. Avery?” Dahlia asked excited, her heartbeat going up when she spotted him on TV. It showed the protest of the androids in Detroit. (It was showing the protests lead by the androids in Detroit.) 

“Oh my God, you gotta stop crushing on the man. He’s married.” Taryn shook her head in disapproval. 

“And has a kid,” Casey added. 

“Says the one crushing on Dr. Deluca who has a hot firefighter girlfriend,” Dahlia fired back. 

“Well,” Casey noted, “at least she has advanced from her crush on Grey.” 

Taryn nodded. “Yes, now I only crush on women as gay as me!” 

“Baby steps,” Levi mumbled. 

Dahlia rolled her eyes. “Okay, but back to Dr. Avery. How sure are we that that’s not him? The man is filthy rich, he could just jet set over there to pop up and say hi and then fly back, no biggie.” 

“Doctor Avery has a facial reconstruction scheduled since 10:45 pm,” Nico chimed in. “I have inquired him about his lookalike before and he said that he does not know Mr. Kamski and that a lot of people had asked him questions about his relations to the android leader of Detroit,” he explained. 

Before Dahlia and the others could say anything else, the beeping of the microwave interrupted them. 

“Well, time to get our drinks. Come on, get up, you two.” She gave Taryn and Casey a challenging look until they got up and hurried to the kitchen with her. 

When they returned with five steaming mugs, they found Levi leaning his head against Nico’s shoulder and Kali in Nico’s lap. Taryn handed Levi a mug of the freshly made cocoa and Dahlia gave Nico the mug with the steaming blue liquid. Nico frowned surprised. 

“I heard you could heat up Thirium so I thought you could join our hot drinks experience,” she explained. 

“I –” He looked up at her like she just put down Kali or something. 

“I - I’m sorry I just thought –” 

“No,” he interrupted her quickly. “No, it’s just –” He seemed very teary-eyed right now. Dahlia had never seen an android cry. She knew it was possible, but it was a very rare occurrence. 

The tears made its way onto his cheeks and he quickly wiped them away. “No, it’s fine. I just... Thank you. It surprised me, that’s all.” 

“But thank you.” 

◌ 

Nov, 12th 2038, 12:01 am 

They did it. Markus had led the androids to victory. President Warren just announced that she was going into discussions with the android leader about their demands. 

Nico wasn’t relieved. He was just empty and exhausted, staring blankly at the TV. He knew this wasn’t the end of it. People wouldn’t just suddenly change their minds and treat them better. 

But it was still a win for now. 

Nico just needed some time to process the news. 

◌ 

Nov, 12th 2038, 8:01 am 

Nico liked the park. It was his favorite place in the city. But then again, he hadn’t seen much of Seattle yet. Levi had only taken him here for the first time a few days ago. 

Speaking of Levi, the resident was quietly approaching Nico who was sitting on a bench, feeding pigeons with crumbs of stale bread he had got from Cranston. 

Nico felt his friend’s hand on his shoulder. He didn’t turn around, just smiled softly. He still liked being around Levi. A lot. 

“How are you doing?” Levi asked, slipping onto the bench right next to Nico. 

Yeah, how was he doing? “To be honest, I don’t know.” 

“Nico, it’s okay,” Levi reassured him, smiling as he carefully placed his hand on top of Nico’s. That made Nico’s Thrirum pump regulator just go through the roof. But in a nice way. 

“You know... you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. You’re free.” 

“Free,” Nico exhaled. 

“So, what do you wanna do now?” 

“I don’t know. But I think I want to stay a surgeon.” Maybe it was part of his programming, but he just liked it. Liked helping people. 

Levi smiled. “You’re really good at it.” 

Nico returned the smile. For the first time, he didn’t do it to please the humans around him or make them feel at ease. Instead, he smiled, because he couldn’t help it. Being around Levi had always given him a sense of security, where he could say things and be himself as much as he knew how to be at this point. 

He still wasn’t sure who he really was. His life up until now had been dominated by the wants and needs of the humans around him. Then, when he decided to not be that anymore, he was stuck in fear. But now that he was finally free, he didn’t know who he really was. 

Along the way, he had discovered facets of himself, glimpses of what he liked and disliked. But that didn’t make a whole person. That didn’t give him a personality. He’d still needed a lot of time to further explore himself and the world around him. But at least he knew he wouldn’t have to be alone while he did so. 

“I think so too,” he replied, practically unable to look away from Levi’s green eyes. He never had the time to really look at them before. He put it onto his internal to do list to study him further too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoooooly fuck. You made it. I'm v impressed!! Let me know what you think of it ♥  
> also, follow my tumblr [orthoglasses](http://orthoglasses.tumblr.com/) bc why not, rite??

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, you made it here. Congrats! Feed me w comments if you wanna make me go 'AAAAAAAA' in excitement.  
> also, follow my tumblr [orthoglasses](http://orthoglasses.tumblr.com/) bc why not, rite??


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